Orban 6300 Audio Processor

The Orban 6300 is a high-quality, multipurpose stereo audio processor for digital radio, digital television, netcasts, STL protection, satellite uplink protection, and digital mastering. With 20 kHz audio bandwidth, the 6300 succeeds Orban’s popular OPTIMOD-DAB 6200 audio processor but offers improved processing algorithms and more flexibility.

Orban’s new PreCode™ technology manipulates several aspects of the audio to minimize artifacts caused by low bitrate codecs, ensuring consistent loudness and texture from one source to the next. There are several factory presets tuned specifically for low bitrate codecs.

In sound-for-picture applications, the 6300’s built-in CBS Loudness Controller™ tames source-to-source loudness variations, ensuring consistency and maximizing audience satisfaction. Loudness is controlled so that it complies with ATSC Recommended Practice A/85:2011 («Techniques for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital Television»), which uses the ITU BS.1770 loudness meter, and with EBU Recommendation R 128 (Loudness normalisation and permitted maximum level of audio levels), which uses a gated version of the BS.1770 meter. Starting with V2 software, the 6300 also offers a CBS Loudness Meter and support for Dolby Digital® dialnorm metadata, making it perfect for processing ATSC subchannels while Orban’s 8585 Optimod-Surround processes the main channel-the 6300’s processing algorithm is now identical to that provided by the 8585’s 2.0 processing channel.

Because of its versatile signal routing, the 6300 can be used as a combined studio AGC, digital radio/digital television/netcast processor, and low-delay talent headphone processor. Any of its three outputs (stereo analog x1; AES2 digital x2) can emit any of the following signals:
Stereo enhancement, equalization, and AGC without look-ahead peak limiting
Stereo enhancement, equalization, and AGC with peak limiting
Stereo enhancement, equalization, and multiband processing (2-band or 5-band, including AGC) without peak limiting
Stereo enhancement, equalization, and multiband processing (2-band or 5-band, including AGC) with peak limiting
In a typical application:

The 6300 substitutes for the AGC in an Optimod at the transmitter and provides protection limiting for the STL. Digital output #1 emits the peak-limited output of the AGC to drive the STL. The AGC is turned off in the transmitter-side Optimod.
The 6300’s AGC uses the same dual-band, window-gated, matrix technology as the AGCs in Orban’s 2300, 5300, 8300, 8382, 8400, 8500, 9300, and 9400 Optimods. It can therefore accurately substitute for the AGCs in these devices and can help maintain an all-digital signal path throughout the facility. Because the 6300’s AGC is more advanced than the AGCs in Orban’s 2200, 8200, and 9200 Optimods, the 6300 can upgrade the performance of these older products when substituted their AGCs.
Moreover, because the 6300 supports presets that be recalled by remote control, it can be automatically synchronized to the presets on-air at a transmitter-side Optimod when presets are dayparted.
The 6300’s multiband processing is the same as that used in Optimod-Surround 8585’s 2.0 processing path and will sound identical. In addition, it is similar to the processing used in Optimod-FM 8500’s digital radio processing path, while the AGCs of the 6300 and 8500 are essentially identical. To help you match the sound of an 8585, 8400 or 8500, the 6300 provides presets with the same names as those in these processors. If you are using a factory preset at a transmitter-side 8400 or 8500, you can recall a preset with the same name in the 6300 to ensure that the sound stays the same as it would if you were using an 8400 or 8500 with its internal AGC.
Digital output #2 emits a peak-limited, multiband-processed signal to drive a netcast encoder (like Orban’s Opticodec-PC), a digital radio transmitter, or a digital television transmitter.
The analog output emits a low-delay (~5 ms) multiband-processed signal with no peak limiting to drive talent headphones at the studio. This is particularly useful in HD Radio™ facilities, where off-air headphone monitoring is impossible due to delay.

The 6300’s two independent stereo look-ahead limiters can be switched to operate either «flat» or on a 50µ­s or 75µ­s pre-emphasis curve to protect a pre-emphasized path like a typical analog microwave STL.
Because the look-ahead peak limiting technology used in the 6300 performs optimally with «flat» transmission channels (like almost all digital channels), the 6300 cannot provide loudness processing for pre-emphasized radio channels. Use one of Orban’s Optimod-FM processors for this application. For analog television with FM aural carrier(s), use Optimod-TV 8382.

Starting with V2 software, the 6300 includes presets for analog television using FM aural carriers with 50µs or 75µs preemphasis This allows you to purchase a 6300 for your analog television transmitter and continue to use the 6300 when you upgrade to digital transmission.